Welsh Water will pay a proposed £44.7m after the industry regulator found “serious and unacceptable” breaches in the supplier’s network and sewer services.
Ofwat said Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water did not adequately operate, maintain or upgrade its wastewater network to ensure it could cope with wastewater and wastewater levels, and did not have adequate processes or oversight by senior management.
Ofwat said the planned implementation package will include £40.6m to reduce spills at specific overflows and reduce environmental damage caused, address groundwater entering the sewer network, as well as a further £4.1m to improve river quality in “extremely sensitive catchments”.
Lynn Parker, senior director of enforcement at Ofwat, said: “Our investigation has found serious and unacceptable breaches in the way Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water has operated and maintained its sewer networks and systems, resulting in excessive releases of storm overflows into the environment.
“Now we hope they will focus on fixing things so customers can regain trust in their water company and the critical service they provide. We understand the public wants to see transformative change.”
Ofwat stressed that the package was more than would otherwise have been paid if Ofwat had fined the company the £40m it could have made.
It will now consult on the proposed application package, with a deadline for responses of April 2.
Details of the planned action emerge as Welsh Water customer bills are set to rise again next month, with the supplier announcing increases of 42% by 2029-30. The company serves around 3 million people in Wales and Herefordshire.
A Welsh Water spokesperson said: “We accept the conclusions of Ofwat’s investigation and apologize for failing to meet the standards our customers and regulators rightly expect of us.
“We have initiated a major transformation program across the business, including within our wastewater services, focused on improving performance, strengthening operational oversight and accelerating investment to deliver better outcomes for rivers and coastal waters.
“The investigation has considered both historical and more recent compliance, and we accept that improvements are needed.”
It is the latest enforcement action by Ofwat after it said earlier this month that it planned to fine South East Water £22 million for “repeated supply failures” between 2020 and 2023, affecting more than 286,000 people.
Ofwat said this was the seventh case in its sector-wide wastewater investigation, and this proposed enforcement action brings the total so far amid the investigation to more than £300 million.
